See on Scoop.it - Alain Renaudin
Despite the crisis, many SME-SMI managers still consider it strategic to implement new environmental, social and societal actions. In particular, to gain in competitiveness.
The results of this Generali CSA survey of VSE/SME managers have been a constant for 10 years now. I was already measuring this when I launched the sustainable development observatory in 2002. This is true both of business leaders and of public opinion, which now sees little opposition between ecology and the economy. The question, the trigger, is now to move from the why to the how, and to do it intensely (the U-curve syndrome). And that, too, has been going on for some years now!
However, in the light of the experience gained from these studies and their comparison with the reality of companies' commitments and attitudes, the analysis needs to be put into perspective, or we need to be more demanding:
It is true that the managers questioned at 59% said that they were "increasingly integrating environmental, social and societal actions into their company's strategy", but it has to be acknowledged that all this represents such a vast whole that it would be difficult to ignore it, and that these concerns have become so politically correct that it is complicated to ignore them. But above all, contrary to what the report says, taking 2011 as the reference date (which must be when the barometer was set up and not the economic reference that is required) and announcing a 'revelation' this year, this phenomenon goes back much further, a good ten years, to the early 2000s, in other words, the start of the NRE laws, regulations that have little to do with the free initiative of company directors.
Another key date is 1987, when the Brundtland Report was published, laying the foundations for the Sustainable Development approach. An even older date is that of the first Earth Summit, held in Stockholm in 1972, which has been followed decade after decade until the "Rio+20" summit in 2012. From summit to summit, editions that go from failure to failure.
In other words, this story of Sustainable Development is both ancient and recent. And while the work of alerting the world and raising awareness has taken place, this first period (an initial phase that will be followed by another of a different nature) has for the time being involved citizens more than economic or political players. The behaviours and actions claimed by company directors are fully commendable and beneficial, but remain more the actions of citizen-managers than of entrepreneur-managers. It is more often a case of seeking to reduce the ecological and social footprint (which again is great) while continuing to do business 'as usual' than of seeking inspiration from the ecological and social footprint to change the business. In this case, the changes are more marginal optimisations than breakthrough innovations.
The study itself reveals this paradox among business leaders if we look more closely: while a slight majority (55%) believe that taking these issues into account helps their company to be more competitive, more of them (68%) recognise that the crisis has slowed down the process. While the main motivations are to improve the company's economic performance and reduce operating costs, the main obstacles are a lack of financial resources and a failure to demonstrate a return on investment. These results clearly demonstrate the apparent paradox of managers who are "not all that convinced" as entrepreneurs, and who, in order to resolve this equation, rely on the State, believing that it is above all the tax advantages that would enable them to progress towards greater integration of these environmental and social issues, which they are convinced represent a tangible competitive advantage...
See on www.lexpress.fr